John Dougall

Dr. John Dougall FRSE (June 1867 – 24 February 1960) was "one of Scotland's leading mathematicians". Two formulas are named Dougall's formula after him: one for the sum of a 7F6 hypergeometric series, and another for the sum of a bilateral hypergeometric series.

Life

Dougall was born in June 1867 in Kippen, a small village near Stirling, Scotland; his father, a watchmaker and postmaster, had nine children, among whom John was the eldest.

He was educated locally at Kippen School. He left school at age 13 to become a post office worker, but a year later entered Glasgow University, from which he earned an M.A. in 1886.

Dougall became a member of the Edinburgh Mathematical Society in 1885, and was president of the society for 1925–1926.

He frequently published mathematical works in the proceedings and transactions of these two societies.

Publications

Dougall translated Max Born's critical book Atomic Physics, and Émile Borel's Space and Time into English